National Defence committee  Of course, the OSCE mission, if all.... I should step back and say that a key element in the choice of forces for a UN peacekeeping operation is that they are acceptable to all sides. So, yes, if we became acceptable to all sides, then we could. In the OSCE context, because of ou

National Defence committee  Thank you very much. I just want to reference the statement about no alternatives in the Minsk agreement, and just note that I was quoting the Ukrainian minister of defence, who stated that in May, and also President Putin and Angela Merkel, who said there is no alternative to t

National Defence committee  Thank you very much for inviting me here today. I apologize as I don't have a written text, but I did provide a copy of my notes to the interpreters. I want to focus very specifically on what might be possible now. It seems to me that there is an urgent need to focus on the op

National Defence committee  No. It's—

National Defence committee  No, I—

National Defence committee  It was by the character of the public debate that took place. It was when—

National Defence committee  If one wants to go back—and we can—over the public debate, in circumstances where the American ambassador to Canada had to speak publicly on the issue, there were a number of statements made. The public debate got to the point where individuals like me were arguing that the Unite

National Defence committee  The starting point for me is not diplomacy at all costs. The starting point for me is to ask what the options are. What are we trying to achieve and what are the means of achieving it?

National Defence committee  There aren't other options. This is the problem. A military engagement would be catastrophic for the—

National Defence committee  No, of course—

National Defence committee  My position is that there is ample.... First, as I said, I agree that sanctions should continue but that they should be in the context of a broader strategy, which includes negotiations at various levels, that this has to be tried, and that it serves no purpose to—

National Defence committee  I think we should do everything possible to avoid that catastrophic scenario.

National Defence committee  I don't think it's helpful to go down that road—

National Defence committee  —because then we're talking potentially about a nuclear war that could engulf the world. I think that kind of dialogue is not helpful.

National Defence committee  On this one, I think the main role that Canada can play at this point is really very much articulating the need, supporting dialogue—behind the scenes, of course—urging the United States to take up diplomacy without preconditions. Sadly, we haven't engaged with North Korea for a